Fountain-brush.



H. W. HICKS.

FOUNTAIN BRUSH.

APPLICATION FILED DEc.22. I9I3.

LlLwU. Patented Aug. 24,1915.

E. Tl HNIIII 30 (IIIIIII Illllllllll/ll INI/ENTOI? coLuIvIBIA PLANOORAPH C0.. WASHINGTON. n. c. f

HOWARD W. HICKS, 0

F DENVER, COLORADO.

FOUNTAIN-BRUSH.

Application med December 2 To all whom. it may concern Be it known that l, HOWARD W. HICKS, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fountain-Brushes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

rFhis invention relates to improvements in fountain brushes, and the principal object of the invention is to provide means for controlling the supply of water to the brush, and also to provide means for supporting the brush so that the same may be readily adjusted in different positions to prevent same from being worn away unevenly.

IThe invention is primarily designed for use in washing railway coaches and other vehicles, such as carriages, wagons and automobiles, but may also be effectively used in the washing down of buildings, floors and corridors, and also in the washing of windows and for other purposes.

In brushes as heretofore constructed and mounted, owing to the fixed position of the brush relatively to its handle, the brush becomes worn away more quickly on one side or position, leaving the same uneven and unsatisfactory, and such deformity of the brush is also occasioned by the same being stood up in a corner when wet, and the weight of the brush and handle themselves cause one portion of the bristles to become distorted, so that when the brush is to be used again it has an uneven brushing or scrubbing surface. Also fountain brushes have hitherto been more or less unsatisfactory owing to the uncertain feed of fluid thereto causing a flooding of the brush, and by the present invention it is aimed to overcome these and other disadvantageous features.

Another important feature of the present invention is to provide a brush head that not only permits of the adjustment of the brush relatively thereto, but also provides means for neatly and rigidly mounting connections for the inlet supply pipe and also a support for a drier or wiper, where the brush is used for window washing, and which brush head may be cheaply manufactured and used with a renewed brush in place of a worn out one, and with brushes of different shapes, as it Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

2, 1913.- serial No. 808,255.

will be understood that the invention may be effectively applied for use with different types of brushes, whether round or oblong, and with or without a drier or wiper.

Vith these and other objects in view, the invention, therefore, consists of the novel arrangement and combination of parts, which will more fully appear from the following description, and the essential features of novelty will be more particularly and succinctly pointed out in the appended claims.

It will be obvious, however, that minor structural equivalents may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and without sacrificing any of the vital principles thereof, and while the invention is not limited, therefore, to the exact details shown and described, still for the purpose of disclosure reference is had to the accompanying drawings illustrating a practical embodiment of the same, in which drawings like characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1, is a View in side elevation of my improved brush and handle therefor, partly broken away, and showing a small section of hose coupled to the end of the hollow handle. Fig. 2, is a top plan view, showing a brush and the brush head proper with a handle and wiper attached thereto. Fig. 3, is a View in vertical cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, the brush handle and wiper stem being broken away. Fig. 4c, is a fragmentary plan view of the brush head, with the adjustable cap orvdome removed, showing the feed pipes for the brush, and a set of interlocking teeth. Fig. 5 is a detail fragmentary view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, showing a means for interlocking the handle cap or dome to the brush head against rotation, and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view, partly in elevation and partly in longitudinal section through the handle, showing a means of controlling the fluid supply through the handle.

A brush head or casing is preferably formed of two hollow sections of light metal, the upper section 1 of which is preferably provided with an annular recess 2 around its lower outer face to snugly seat within an annular recess 8 formed on the inner upper surface of the lower section 4f, and between the shoulders formed by these recesses there may be interposed a buffer 5 of rubber, or other suitable material, which is sometimes desirable with certain forms of brush heads,

but which is not necessarily essential to the present invention.

6 designates the bristles of the brush, secured within the lower section 4 of the brush head, and the two hollow sections of the brush head, forming the chamber or casing 7, are secured together by means of suitable screws or bolts 8, which may be seated at their headed ends in the lower section 4 and their threaded ends screwed into threaded lugs 9 on the interior face of the upper section 2, orvice versa.

Unlike former constructions, the chamber 7 is not designed as a reservoir for the water, which latter is an objectionable feature, because it causes the bristles to become flooded, but passing through this chamber 7 are a central sleeve 10 and a plurality of feed tubes 11, which are open ended and extend from the outer surface of the upper section 1 to the outer surface of the lower section 4, where they separately discharge upon the bristles of the brush, as shown most clearly at Fig. 3.

The upper outside surface of the section 1 is provided with an annular recess or track 12 (Figs. 3 and 4) in which is rotatably mounted the lower edge 13 of an annular casting 14, comprising a hollow cap or dome forming a reservoir discharging through the feed tubes 11. This cap or dome 14 may be recessed around its lower edge, forming an annular ledge or face 15 between which and the top of the section l is fitted a rubber or other suitable gasket 16 to prevent leakage. The cap or dome may also be provided with a central inner threaded lug or nipple 17, in which is screwed the threaded Aend of a screw 18 passing through the sleeve 10, as clearly seen from Fig. 3.

The hollow cap or dome casting is provided with an inlet nipple and a projection or support for a wiper,l whererthe latter is employed. In the drawings, these are shown as being formed integral with vthe casting, and the inlet nipple 19 slants upwardly at a proper angle and is provided ywith a bore 20 leading to the reservoir 21 formed by the hollow cap and the top member of the brush head. The outer end threaded, as at 22, to receive a coupling member 23, coperating with a hollow handle 24, preferably formed of an aluminum alloy or other light material, the hollow handle 24 and the coupling member 23 being provided with abutting shoulders, a washer 26 being interposed between the abutting shoulder of said hollow handle and the outer edge of said threaded nipple.

Diametrically opposite the nipple 19 is the wiper support 28, which simply consists of an angularly-disposed projection shown in the drawing as hollow for the purpose of lightness, but closed at its inner end and out of communication with the reservoir 21.

of the inlet nipple is This wiper projection is adapted to detachably receive the socket 29 of an ordinary wiper 30, having a rubber, or other suitable drying edge, but which wiper in itself forms j no part of the present invention and needs no further description. .f

Referring more particularly to Fig. 6, the hollow handle 24 is of sectionalilconstruction, the upper section 31 of which telescopes into an enlarged band 32 forming a part of the lower section 33, and recessed as at 34 to snugly and neatly seat the lower end of the upper section 31 but allowing the two Sections to be rotated in opposite directions relatively to each other.

lVithin the upper section, F vided a hollow barrel 35, having a solid head 36, having an enlarged bore 37 converging inwardly, seat, which bore 37 continues upwardly as a small port 39, discharging into the hollow handle above said solid head 36. The lower section 33 of the hollow handle is also provided with a solid plug 40, reduced and threaded, as at 41, to thread within the barrel 35, (said reduced portion of the plug 40 being shown broken away at 42 to show in full lines a small longitudinal bore, hereinafter referred to). y

The upper portion of the plug 40 is further reduced, as at 43, and is snugly seated within a suitable gasket or bushing 44 contained within the barrel 35 below the solid head 36 of the upper plug, the whole preventing leakage within the barrel.

The upper reduced portion 43 of the plug 40 is tapered, as at 45, to form a conical tip or needle valve registering with the valve seat 38, hereinbefore referred to, and the plug 40 is provided with a longitudinal bore of small diameter shown in full lines at 46 'and in dotted lines at 47, and the upper portion of this bore opens into transverse ports 48 extending through the body of the needle valve 45, which needle valve is of such diameter as to allow a. narrow passageway 49 between it and the enlarged needle valve bore 37.

The upper section 31 and the lower section 33 of the hollow handle are provided with suitable grips 50, so that it will be obvious that, upon gripping the handle with the right and left hand and turning the grips in the opposite direction, the plug 40 is threaded into the barrel 35, causing the needle valve 45 to seata'gainst its valve seat 38 closing the port 39 and shutting olf the flow of liquid to the reservoir 21, and it is obvious that the reverse direction of movement will allow the liquid to flow in through the lower part of the handle, through a hose connection 50a, thence upwardly through the hollow handle through the small longitudinal bore 47 through the transverse ports 48, around the space 49, through the port 39 there is proas at 38, to form a needle valve into the upper section of the hollow handle, thence through the bore 20 of the inlet pipe into the reservoir 21, thence through the feed tubes 1l directly to the bristles of the brush, and at no time does the cleansing fluid enter into the hollow brush head chamber 7, preventing any possible flooding of the bristles.

It is not at all necessary that further locking means, other than the screw 18, need be provided for the rotatable casting 14, but in some instances it may be desirable to provide a positive interlock' between this casting or reservoir casing and the upper section of the brush head.

In the drawing, there is shown a means of accomplishing this consisting of a plurality of rack teeth 5l, shown more clearly in Figs. 3-5, extending annularlyT around the annular recess 12 formed on the upper surface of the brush head, and on the casting itself there may be disposed a lug or lugs 52, having a downwardly disposed tooth coperating with said annularly disposed rack teeth 51.

From the foregoing full description, it is not believed that it is necessary or desirable to further describe the operation of my improved brush and the manner of mounting and feeding the cleansing fluid to the same, but it might be stated that, by the construction illustrated and described, the brush head and its bristles may be readily adjusted to any desired position, when worn or otherwise distorted, by adjusting the same relative to the casting 14:, and, similarly, a new brush head may be readily replaced when worn away, without the necessity of furnishing a new casting and handle.V Furthermore, the hollow casting and manner of mounting same provide a reservoir which coperates with the feed tubes l1 to deliver the cleansing fluid directly into the bristles without flooding the same.

As originally stated, one of the essential features of the invention is the manner of controlling the feed of the cleansing fluid through the brush handle and the upper and lower sections 31 and 33 of this handle, and the contained plugs and valves are so constructed and operated that, upon a turn of the upper section 31 relative to the lower section 33 to the extent of one-half of a revolution, the wiper 30 is brought into position Copies of this patent may be obtained for ready for use, with the cleansing fluid completely shut 0H, and, upon a reverse movement of one-half of a revolution, the brush is again brought into operative position with the cleansing fluid flowing thereto, and it is obvious that this is of very great value in window washing, where a wiper is employed, as it not only saves a great deal of lost motion, but it makes the combined brush and wiper more effective in shutting off the cleansing fluid when not needed by a single trivial manipulation, and vice versa.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. In a fountain brush, the combination of a hollow brush head formed from upper and lower conca-ve sections; means for securing said sections together; bristles secured to said lower section; a reservoir having an open bottoni seated on top of said upper section and closed thereby; and feed ducts headed in said upper and lower sections beneath said reservoir, whereby a cleansing fluid is fed directly to said bristles without filling said hollow brush head, substantially as described.

2. In a fountain brush, the combination of a brush head provided on its lower face with bristles; a reservoir mounted on said brush head and having an inlet nipple; means for conveying a cleansing fluid from said reservoir to said bristles; a two-part hollow handle connected to said inlet nipple and forming a means for conveying a constant supply of cleansing fluid to said reservoir; and means for controlling the flow of fluid through said handle by turning one part of said handle relatively to the other, substantially as described.

3. A casting providing for a reservoir adapted to be secured to a brush head, said casting being cap-shaped and having an upwardly inclined inlet nipple and a diametrically opposite upwardly inclined wiper support, and said casting being provided at its lower open end with a surrounding depending annular flange, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HOWARD IV. HICKS.

Witnesses J. S. QUIs'rA, EDw. S. STEWART.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ci Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

